Randomness: Adrien, Gigs, and Movies

Sometimes I like to run through a whole bunch of topics at once.

Adrien’s gig last night, upstairs at World Cafe Live’s “Bard Sessions,” was fun. I only recognized two of the songs she played, so she must have been writing a lot since the last time I saw her. This was my first trip up to World Cafe Live after hearing a lot about it. The sound guy had to duck down behind all these boxes and crates to get to the mixing board. Either that or he was just hiding from someone.

Kristin took a few photos at the show.

I posted a not about this above, but I’m playing at the Treehouse on Saturday, August 13th with John Shaughnessy as part of Collingswood’s monthly 2nd Saturday event.

I saw a few movies this week and here are some quick reviews.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Try not to compare it to the original, because it can’t win. There are some genuinely funny moments, but Burton & Depp’s interpretation of Willy Wonka irritated just as much entertained.

Happy Endings – Great. Lisa Kudrow is fantastic among a huge cast of intertwining stories. I don’t even want to say anything about it other than you should see it.

Identity (on DVD) – Jeanne thought it sucked, but I liked it. Bad weather forces a bunch of strangers to spend the night together at a motel.

A Mighty Wind (on DVD) – I’m starting to think Christopher Guest is overrated. I liked This is Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman, but can’t get into Best in Show or A Mighty Wind. Best in Show was too over the top and a Mighty Wind is played too straight (with a few exceptions).

Update: I forgot to mention that Buddy Guy was awesome on Friday night at Penn’s Landing.

Read on for a few spoilery comments about each movie
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – One thing that always bothered me about the original was the loop on top of the elevator for attaching a cable. The thing could fly! Why did it need the loop? I’m glad they solved that problem in the new movie.

Happy Endings – The press reviews are surprisingly mixed, but I loved it.

Identity – I read a theory that Timmy is actually the doctor’s attempt at therapy and that’s why he tries to destroy the other personalities. That’s what he’s designed to do. When time runs out, the doctor abandons that strategy and tries to use Edward to find the violent personality. The last thing Timmy needs is to be abandoned. At the end, Timmy kills Malcom’s “mother” and Malcom kills Timmy’s “father.”

A Mighty Wind – I did like the part where the Folksmen were talking about how their label sucked so bad that when you bought their album you had to punch your own hole in the record.